Takata Airbag Recall: Everything You Need to Know About the Biggest Recall in US History

Here’s Everything You Need to Know About the Takata Air Bag Recall, Including a Complete List of the Affected Automobiles

There has been a major recall of more than 100 million vehicles due to serious problems with the front airbags on the driver’s and/or passenger’s side. The recall involves Takata® brand airbags and involves cars from 2000-2017.

U.S. Warns Vehicle Owners to Replace Airbags

It was discovered that the affected airbags have the potential to violently explode, even in low-speed collisions. The major issue is that the propellant in the airbag’s inflator can become unstable, and if the housing should rupture during a crash, the metal shrapnel could shoot into the passenger cabin and cause severe injuries or even death.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) the problem occurs with airbags which were manufactured with ammonium nitrate-based propellants. Moisture in the air, high temperatures, and age are contributing factors that can cause the airbags to fail.

At the present time, a total of at least 10 deaths and over 100 injuries have resulted from the defect in the United States alone.

Volkswagen

As the list of recalled vehicles seem to keep growing almost every week, we strongly advise you to periodically check your vehicle’s recall status by entering your VIN into this NHTSA website.

Reports of Fatalities

In late March of 2016, a 17 year-old driver was killed as a result of an injury that occurred when the airbag in the 2002 Honda Civic deployed following a minor rear end collision. The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Department attributed the death to shrapnel that exited the airbag and cut the woman’s neck and carotid artery.

Federal regulators reported that a man died in December of 2015 when a Takata airbag exploded while he was driving. This was the 10th death related to these defective airbags.

A 35-year-old man was killed after a crash in Houston. During the crash the driver-side airbag inflator ruptured. Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the man’s death. However, they have reported he received recall notification but failed to make the repairs.

The above incidents are only a few of the fatalities that have occurred because of these defective airbags. Vehicles are still being added to the list of recalls, so it is essential for consumers to make sure they follow the latest information.

Important Updates on the Takata Airbag Recall

July 21st, 2016: General Motors said on Thursday that it may be forced by US regulators to recall another 4.3 million vehicles for potentially defective Takata air bag inflators.

June 30th, 2016: The NHTSA has announced that seven Honda and Acura models from 2001–2003 pose the highest failure rate among all of the recalled vehicles (as much of a 50% chance of airbag inflator rupture). These vehicles are identified as:

The 2001-2002 Honda Civic and Accord

The 2002 CR-V and Odyssey

The 2002–2003 Acura TL

The 2003 Honda Pilot and Acura CL

There are still reportedly ~313,000 of these vehicles which still use the defective inflators.

June 14, 2016: Mitsubishi, Toyota, and Volkswagen confirmed which new vehicles contain the Takata airbags with the ammonium nitrate-based propellant.

June 2, 2016: By this time Audi, Jaguar/Land Rover, BMW, General Motors, and Mercedes Benz have added an additional 2.5 million U.S. vehicles to the original list of models that were equipped with defective Takata airbags.

June 1, 2016: By this time, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Volkswagen already confirmed some new vehicles they were selling included Takata’s ammonium nitrate-based propellant in both the driver and passenger airbag inflators. There was no drying agent included. There is the necessity for these vehicles to be recalled by 2018.

May 4, 2016: This massive recall of Takata airbags has more than doubled in size, especially with NHTSA announcing an expansion of the recall that will include 35 to 40 million airbag inflators expected to be replaced through 2019. According to NHTSA a total of 8,168,860 have already been replaced.

April 13, 2016: Regulators have stated a total of 85 million unrecalled Takata airbag inflators that are potentially defective will need to be recalled. The recall has already included 28.8 million airbags in the United States.

April 7, 2016: The 10th U. S. victim was a 17-year-old Texas girl who had been driving a 2002 Honda Civic. Shrapnel from the exploding airbag that struck her neck was listed as the cause of death.

February 12, 2016: The NHTSA expanded the list of models that were affected by the defective airbags.

December 23, 2015: NHTSA reported another fatality in the U. S. resulting from the potentially hazardous Takata airbag inflator. This fatality brought to light the need for consumers to take care of the recall as soon as possible. Changes to the official list of vehicles that were affected were also reflected.

November 3, 2015: NHTSA imposed a penalty that could be as high as $200 million against Takata. Takata also must phase out the manufacturing and sale of inflators that include ammonium nitrate such as those already included in the recall.

June 19, 2015: Both NHTSA and Honda have confirmed that an eighth fatality was caused by a rupture in a Takata airbag. The car was a 2001 Honda Civic and had been subject to recall since 2009. It was a rental vehicle and the owners and small rental company had not made the effort to take the car in for repairs.

June 17, 2015: NHTSA updated its VIN lookup tool to reflect all the models that were affected.

June 16, 2015: Toyota added 1,365,000 more vehicles to the recall when it expanded the years on previously reported models.

June 15, 2015: Honda expanded its recall on the Honda Accord nationally. Also on this date NHTSA and Honda confirmed a seventh death was caused by the Takata airbag. The vehicle was a 2005 Honda Civic whose driver suffered fatal injuries after a crash.

June 4, 2015: Reuters reported at least 400,000 airbag inflators that were already replaced must be recalled and replaced again.

May 29, 2015: Subaru, General Motors, Mitsubishi, and Chrysler added vehicle identification numbers to affected vehicles on their recall websites.

May 28, 2015: NHTSA and vehicle manufacturers reported the additional models that were affected by previous recall announcements.

February 20, 2015: NHTSA fined to Takata $14,000 daily for its failure to fully cooperate with the agency’s investigation into the problems with the airbags.

January 18, 2015: The fifth person in the United States lost their life in what was believed to be an exploding airbag inflator.

December 18, 2014: Ford issued a public statement it added an additional 447,310 vehicles to the current recall.

December 9, 2014: Honda issued a statement confirming its compliance with NHTSA. It and also expanded its recall nationally which made the total number of affected Honda/Acura vehicle models to 5.4 million.

November 18, 2014: NHTSA announced the recalls must be expanded to a national level.

November 7, 2014: A report published in the New York Times claimed Takata knew about dangerous defects with its airbags many years before it notified federal regulators.